Customer Reviews
Has good points, and a few dissappointing ones...
This is the third book in the Southern Vampire series. Although you don't need to read the other two to know what is going on, I have to say it is probably not my favorite.
Main character, Sookie Stackhouse is a waitress in a bar with a "disability" - she can read minds. Which instead of making her some sort of comic book hero, is really a problem for her. Ms. Harris writes about the south, with authority, her characters are interesting and funny. She tells a good story.
This is not a heavy duty vampire story dripping with gothic atmosphere (which has it's place). I would highly recommend her two other books, but this one is a little inconistent. For instance, there is a problem with Sookie's boyfriend, Bill (vampire Bill), but what actually causes Bill to act the way he does is not fully explained (either by the character or in the course of the book). As result the reader is dissatisfied with the overlaying plot line.
Unfortunately I have noticed that similar to another (non-supernatural) series Ms Harris writes, she likes to damage her heroine's main romantic relationship. Personally, this type of story detail does not work for me and in the case of Club Dead just doesn't make sense.
The book is still interesting and has Ms. Harris' wonderful brand of humor, so I did enjoy the book, but wouldn't whole heartedly recommend it as I did her first two.
Best One Yet! (Well, haven't read the 4th)
I give it a 5 of 5, not because it's perfect but because if you read the first two this book is exactly what you think it should be, hope for, and expect.
Sookie finds out that Bill (the dullest and most tedious vampire ever imagined) has been cheating on her! (A-ha! knew I didn't like him for a reason). He's working on a secret mission for the Queen of LA (yes the sate) and he direly tells her if he goes missing to check her crawl space.
So, scene two, Bill goes missing (yipee!). She finds some computer disks but doesn't look at them, wierd, then Eric, Bill's boss asks her to find him.
She finds out he was leaving her for his vampire lover when he was kidnapped in MS. She has to investigate that kingdom and her entree in is sexy werewolfe Alcide.
So she goes to find her errant lover and shack up with the very tempting wolf. Eric comes in disguise to follow her repeatedly almost seducing her (lord but he's so much sexier than Bill, I wish she'd chose him) and the hijinks begin. It's a little darker than its predcesors, but the characters grow as you'd expect them to.
Sadly, Sookie has a few TSTL (too stupid to live- got that from another reader) moments. I mean, she wants to forgive Bill even though he was leaving her and had been cheating on her. Gimme a break, no man is worth that humiliation. And she turns down Eric though she wants him badly, even comes dagerously close to full blown sex. In fact, what they do would be considered in many countries sex, but not by most Americans' standards.
It's highly entertaining and had me laughing more then the first two and the characters seem so much more fleshed out, so much more real. Totally worthy read! The ending had me hooting with laughter and I've got to read the fourth. Once again I highly recommend!
Great series with a sense of humore
I rate all three books so far in the series a 5. It's rare you find a good story written with a sense of humor and a protagonist who is flawed but you like and respect. These stories have all of the above. There is plenty of action and interaction with more than a touch of romance. Charlaine Harris does an excellent job of balencing all aspects of the story - romance, fantasy, action without falling too heavily into one genre. I love the Anita Blake series as well, but this is much lighter and funnier. And the Blake series has entirely too much dialog that rehashes the "I'm tougher than anyone on the block"- we get the point. No similar complaints here. Can't wait for the fourth in this series!
